The first televised images many Americans saw when hearing the news about Osama bin Laden's death was a horde of preppies from George Washington University climbing trees and screaming arena chants most frequently heard at professional hockey games and roaring elatedly about death and blood. Sure, it was substantial news! But when you see that "Jack Bauer" is a Twitter trending topic at the same time... maybe the generation raised over the last decade has a little more thirst for the ol' ultra-violence?

But now, during a time of two overseas wars, Americans' opinions on torture seem to have fractured, and largely on generational lines. A new study by the American Red Cross obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast found that a surprising majority-almost 60 percent-of American teenagers thought things like water-boarding or sleep deprivation are sometimes acceptable. More than half also approved of killing captured enemies in cases where the enemy had killed Americans. When asked about the reverse, 41 percent thought it was permissible for American troops to be tortured overseas. In all cases, young people showed themselves to be significantly more in favor of torture than older adults.